Former President Donald Trump.Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty
An appeals group at Facebook found Wednesday that the platform was correct in banning former PresidentDonald Trumpfrom both Facebook and Instagram in the wake of theU.S. Capitol attack.
But the Facebook Oversight Board said the company must review that “vague” penalty within six months and either reverse it or adjust its rules to more clearly match the punishment.
“The Oversight Board has upheld Facebook’s decision to suspend Mr. Trump’s access to post content on Facebook and Instagram on January 7, 2021. However, as Facebook suspended Mr. Trump’s accounts ‘indefinitely,’ the company must reassess this penalty,” the boardsaid in a statement.
“This penalty must be based on the gravity of the violation and the prospect of future harm,” the board said. “It must also be consistent with Facebook’s rules for severe violations, which must, in turn, be clear, necessary and proportionate.”
The board, which Facebook funds as a monitor on its decisions, ismade up of 20 members— mostly academics but also nonprofit leaders, journalists and the former prime minister of Denmark.
Itspurposeis to provide “independent judgement” on “what to take down, what to leave up, and why.”
“In applying a vague, standardless penalty and then referring this case to the Board to resolve, Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities. The Board declines Facebook’s request and insists that Facebook apply and justify a defined penalty.”
Some social media companies previously said Trump’s infamously divisive style was too newsworthy, as a politician, to be subject to strict moderation.
The board also suggested Facebook, as a platform, may have had some role in the disinformation that fueled the Trump mob. The company should “undertake a comprehensive review of Facebook’s potential contribution to the narrative of electoral fraud and the exacerbated tensions that culminated in the violence [at the Capitol],” the board said.
Donald Trump.Erin Schaff - Pool/Getty Images
Five people died.
Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube also barred Trump, 74, from using their sites in what became essentially a ban from all major social media platforms.
He appealed his Facebook banin February; as the board noted, the company had previously asked them to review the matter as well.
USA Todayreported in Februarythat the issue had drawn a high volume of public comment while the board was deliberating.
Since leaving office, Trump has launched his own website and issued statements via email to the press — often in the same frenetic style as his posts on Twitter. Hehas remained at his private Mar-a-Lago Clubin Palm Beach, Florida, while weighing his political future.
In a statement Wednesday, Trump insisted he was being muzzled and again alluded to baseless claims of election fraud.
“Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before,” he said.
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Facebook founderMark Zuckerbergcalled the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riots “shocking” in a statement at the time.
“His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world,” Zuckerberg said then, announcing Trump’s ban and the removal of several statements he made about the attack, including those praising the rioters.
Trump was widely criticized for doing nothing to stop the Capitol attack for hours and later telling his violent supporters “we love you, you’re very special,” before finally telling them to “go home.”
Zuckerberg said Facebook had judged that the effect of Trump’s statements “and likely their intent” would be to “provoke further violence.”
Twitter indicated in February that Trump’s banwould be permanentfrom its site.
“When you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform,” Ned Segal, the company’s chief financial officer, told CNBC.
source: people.com
